Empties #3

 I love doing an empties post because it means I can finally get rid of all the empty bottles I've been hoarding in my room for this purpose so the time has come where I finally have enough finished products to share with you!

It's been a long time since I last done an empties post so I have two deodorants that I've used up which are both by Soft & Gentle because they're my favourite brand for deodorants. I don't really look for much in deodorant other than it smells nice and these ones have lots of different scents and they always smell gorgeous so thats why I always pick them.

Shampoo and conditioner wise I have used up another Mane n Tail shampoo which is amazing for hair growth. I have stopped using it for the meantime though because I have long hair already and I have other shampoos to use up first. I have also used up the Tresemme Split Remedy shampoo and conditioner because my hair is very split endy and long overdue a cut. That being said I don't think they did anything to help split ends, once they're there they're there to stay! (wasn't that a mouthful..)

My deep conditioner that I've been using is Aussie's 3 minute miracle deep conditioner because this smells absolutely amazing and leaves my hair really soft and easy to brush. I would definitely repurchase this again when I need a new deep conditioner.

Obviously over Christmas I was using the amazing Snow Fairy shower gel because it isn't Christmas without snow fairy! Can you tell it's been lying on its side in my 'empties bag' for a long while? I always repurchase this at Christmas time because it has the most gorgeous scent.

I've used up two foundations since I last done an empties, my favourite ever L'Oreal True Match and Rimmel Wake Me Up. As much as I love Wake Me Up, I've since found a new favourite so for the time being I won't be repurchasing but it still is a fab foundation that I might go back to in the future. Of course I have already repurchased True Match because it is my holy grail foundation.

I got this body butter when I was on holiday in Italy and it is amazing on skin thats either sunburnt or just hot from being in the sun all day. Another thing this ones good for is rubbing on your feet after a long day because the aloe vera in it seems to just cool and relax the skin. Next time I'm abroad I may well purchase this because it was lovely but I have plenty of other amazing body butters so wouldn't ship it over from Sephora specially.

This will be the first ever empty fragrance that has made it to one of these posts, in fact one of the very few perfume bottles that I've actually ever got to the bottom of. River Island Paris is such a gorgeous scent and it's obviously really affordable too because it's from the high street. I love this perfume so much that I already have a refill on the go. It is my favourite scent in Summer time and I wore this non stop during first year of uni and when I had just turned 18 so it reminds me of going out and nights out.

I've used up my bottle of St Tropez tan which I loved. This gives such a gorgeous glow, smells and feels amazing on the skin. As much as I love this though I probably wouldn't buy it again unless it was for a special occasion/on offer because St Moritz is a pretty good dupe for it.

My big bottle of Bioderma has now ran out, I use this every night to take off my make-up and it works like a dream. I do love this but again have found a cheaper alternative to take my make up off with so probably won't go back to this. 

My beloved La Roche Posay finally died after a long successful life. I love this product, it's a gem and I would 100% recommend this to anybody struggling with their skin whether its redness or spots this will definitely make an improvement. I wouldn't think twice about repurchasing this if my skin gets troublesome again but its done such a good job that I don't even need it anymore.

I hope you enjoyed getting an insight into my empty products and the reasons on why I will or will not be repurchasing them, What products have you used up recently? Have you tried any of these ones?

Lots of Love,

♥

April || Favourites

I am so, so excited writing this because it is now May which means that university is over for the Summer!! Three cheers for being able to have my life back!! I don't have very many favourites this month, again.. but I have been loving these five products so had to share them with you. I've also thrown in a few non-beauty favourites this month too because I love finding new lifestyle things to try!

My first favourite will be no surprise to anyone if you read my How Now Fake Tanning post. It's a gradual tanner but not like the usual streaky gradual tanners no, this one actually gives you the colour a spray tan would! Except you can do it at home, use it on your face, it's so natural you could actually eat it and it doesn't dry your skin out because it's a moisturiser with tanning ingredients added. Impressed? You should be!

I'm not a big dry shampoo fan, I used to use Batiste but only because there was nothing better that I had found to do the job. Now I reach for Ruth Crilly's Collab dry shampoo, I don't watch her channel or read her blog so there's no bias because of who she is. It just really is a good dry shampoo, it smells good, it's cheap, it doesn't leave as much of a white cast as Batiste and it adds volume to my hair.

My favourite lipstick this month was definitely Blake's red. It's such a classic, pretty shade that would suit anyone and it makes your teeth look whiter! Obviously, anything that makes me any closer to looking like Serena Van Der Woodsen I am going to be up for. It's really long lasting, it smells delicious and I personally think it's the most 'Hollywood' red out of all the L'oreal red collection. If you want a matte red lipstick and want one that's comparable to Mac then I'd try this one out.

Aussie hair care has always been a favourite of mine because their products smell delicious and this one is no different. As I have really long hair, it tangles and matts really easily so I need to use a leave in conditioner to keep it soft and try to stop it becoming a big mess. This one also contains a heat protectant so it's a good product for multi-tasking with and I've had the bottle forever and it's still only half way down.

The face cream that I've been using this month is the gel Garnier moisture match one. I had heard it was a dupe for the Origins Gin Zing moisturiser which I've never tried so I don't know how good a dupe it is. It does feel really soothing and cooling on the face though and although the tube is tiny, it's still going strong.

My non-beauty favourites this month are tv programmes because I have had a lot of time to watch tv during exam procrastination. The first is Ordinary Lies which was on BBC One and was based around people who worked in a garage. Each week was based on a different person and a lie they told and how it escalated to something out of control. I thought this was brilliant, it was clever, sad, funny and just a good watch so definitely try catch up with it on iplayer. My Netflix favourite was actually 'Mr Selfridge' which is about the start up of Selfridges in London but I found it most interesting learning about life in that time. It features a lot on Suffragettes, the war and attitudes to woman in the early 20th century. It has two seasons and I watched both in the space of a week so it's a really easy watch (if you happen to have a lot of spare time).

What products did you love last month?

Lots of Love,

♥

My Haircare Routine

Left to right:- Paul Mitchell Clarifying Shampoo, Aussie 3 Minute Miracle, Mane n Tail Shampoo and Conditioner and Tigi Serious Conditioner.

Hellooo my lovelies!

 Today I thought I'd do a blog post on my hair care routine and a mini review of the products I use in it. The first most important products are shampoo and conditioner. The ones I use are the Mane n Tail shampoo and conditioner which are for both animal and human use. No I have not gone mad like my family thought when this arrived through the post! It is actually great for humans to use for hair growth or so I had heard. Now I already had and always have had extremely long hair so it's understandable why people would be confused as to why I needed a hair growth treatment. However, the truth is I had just ran out of my Bedhead shampoo and conditioner and I love having long hair so longer hair can never be a bad thing right?! To be quite honest I was really intrigued to see if it would actually work originally being for animals and what not. Having long hair to begin with did make it slightly harder to notice the growth but I definitely thought it had grown a little within the first week. I have been using it for about two months now roughly every second wash and I wash my hair around three times a week. Inbetween using this I just use any shampoo/conditioner my mum or boyfriend have in the shower, usually an Aussie or a Head and Shoulders one. Friends and family have also commented that my hair seems alot longer and I feel myself that it does too. Before it was roughly the length of the top of my belly bar and now it is about an inch below the bottom of it so it's definitely an effective hair growth treatment. What's even better about this duo is that they can be picked up relatively cheaply on Amazon (definitely much cheaper than other hair growth treatments on the market). I'll leave links to Amazon sellers below.

 Another shampoo I like to use once a month or after I've used lots of product in my hair is a clarifying shampoo. You know those days when you wash your hair yet it still doesn't feel clean enough? This is what you need in your lifand the one I really like is the Paul Mitchell clarifying shampoo and I think you can pick it up on Look Fantastic for around £7 and it's always easy to get discount codes for these sites! It comes out a clear liquid and it just smells really clean and you don't need lots of it. This bottle has literally lasted me since around March last year (no exaggeration!!) After you have used this bad boy your hair just feels so much cleaner and fresher and you can rest assured knowing all that hairspray, heat protector and volumising spray is all out your hair! It only costs around £10 too so not breaking the bank.

Serious Conditioner and Spatula.

A deep conditioner is one thing that anyone with long hair desperately needs in their life or anyone who has dyed or damaged hair, this is a life saver. The one I use is Tigi's S factor "Serious Conditioner" and it is maaaaaassive (750ml to be precise) and it lasts a very long time and I have had this one since March aswell and as you can see there is plenty left. When I have had a bit of a wild night and I've had my hair all backcombed, waking up in the morning feeling delicate and having to deal with knotted, tangled hair is not ideal as I think anyone will agree. With this I've been able to jump straight in a shower, slather it on my hair generously and it makes brushing knots and tangles out a MILLION times easier and less painful. Many tears were shed before I bought this baby but thankfully those days are gone. It is pricey (eeek) I paid around £27 for mine but it does last a long time and it's usually available on sites like Feel Unique and Look Fantastic where discount codes are alwaaays available on the interwebs! The best thing about using this conditioner is you leave it on for 3 minutes and once you rinse it off your hair is sooo soft and silky that people will be wanting to stroke it! A really cute thing about this product is the little spatula it comes with which comes in handy when you're all wet in the shower and you don't want to dip wet hands into the whole product. As if the reasons above aren't enough to convince you to buy it, it smells like a mixture of strawberries and mint choc chip ice cream and I have to try very hard to resist the urge to taste it when I'm in the shower. Oh and the product is a light pink (plus 10 points from me) and it has a very thick consistency which gives a luxurious feel that I really like.

Serious Conditioner and Spatula.

 Aussie 3 minute miracle is another product I really love for when my hair is matted or just feeling like it needs a bit of TLC and like all Aussie products it smells fabby. The product itself is white which is ideal for people like me who usually manage to slather products all around my bath and shower so white is much less noticable (hopefully that's not just me?!). It's really thick and similar to the Tigi one as it just leaves my hair feeling so soft and silky and much easier to brush out any knots or tangles. There's probably not really a need to have both this one and the Tigi one, they more or less do the same thing. The only difference is that the Tigi one has a more luxurious feel which you would of course expect by the difference in price tag but hey hoe if you have some extra pennies to spare why not! Aussie products can be bought from most drug stores and they're almost always on three for two so you can treat yourself to some other hair goodies too.

Now onto my favourite hair styling products!

Left to right:- L'Oreal Studio Line Volume Supersizing Spray, Argan Oil, Tigi Catwalk Fast Fixx.

 I actually am a girl that doesn't use many styling products in my hair at all and until last year I literally only used heat protection sprays and that was about it. Obviously the first main hair product that every girl (who uses heat on their hair) should own is a heat protection product. I haven't photographed mine because the one I was using has just ran out but it was a Boots own brand one however, I'm not really fussy about which one I use aslong as it does the job (nobody wants heat damaged hair do they?!) The second main product that i loooove is Aussie (shock) Luscious long leave in conditioner, I had been looking for a good leave in conditioner for so long and have never looked back since finding this one. It helps detangle your hair and prevent's it from getting tangled throughout the day which is ideal for me as having long hair it frequently got tangled and matted. Usually I use this after a shower when my hair is still wet, to brush it through and if I need to brush out tangles throughout the day I spritz it on lightly then too. This did not cost me much money at all and like I said before, Aussie is pretty much always on three for two in drugstores. The bottles last a long time too as you literally only need a couple of spritz's depending on how long your hair is (I usually do around 5/6). It has eucalyptus in it which is apparently amazing for your hair (not that I could tell you) but I'm pretty sure that contributes to the amazing smell of it.

  A recent favourite that I've discovered is the L'Oreal Studio Line Super Volumising Spray and it really does work. I have loved using it throughout December whether I've curled my hair or straightened it and it gives a gorgeous look. I especially love using it with straight hair as I've never been a fan of straight hair plastered to the head, I think with straight hair there should always be some volume at the roots. You can spray as much of this as you like to get the effect you need as the more spray you use, the more voluminous it gets. Another aspect of this product I really love is that it doesn't leave your hair crispy or with that gross feeling that many products leave behind. It literally does not feel or look like you have any spray in your hair, it just looks like you have been naturally blessed with voluminous locks (pffft i wish!). The spray is also super easy to brush out so there's no need to wash your hair the next day after you've used it, just brush it out and you're good to go. I do like the packaging and it's super cheap from Boots/Superdrug at around £4.

 Something my lovely mum got me for Christmas is an Argan Oil which I have wanted to try out for the loooongest time but never really got round to picking one up. I always worried that putting an oil in my hair would make it look greasy but this one really doesn't and only the tiniest amount is needed. I use it on days that I have washed my hair , then I rub my hands together before running them throughout the hair shaft and I do think it makes the hair feel silkier. This one really pleases me as it is a nice size for travelling and I think the golden packaging makes it look luxurious. As I got this product for Christmas I'm not sure how much it was or where you can pick one up but I'll try and find one similar and link it below for you

 The last styling product i use regularly in my hair is the Tigi Catwalk Sleek Mystique Fast Fix Style Prep (nice simple and short name Tigi....not!!). I use this product after I have straightened my hair to help it remain straight throughout the day and it does a fabulous job. I don't really struggle from frizzy hair and my hair is naturally pretty straight anyway however throw rain into the mix and my hair loves to curl up at the ends which i unfortunately don't love so much. I feel this really does help battle that and helps keep my hair straight despite the UK's crappy weather! It also smells really nice which is obviously a plus and again you don't need much of it. I'm pretty sure this doubles up as a heat protectant aswell so definitely worth the investment. It's not too expensive, it retails for around £12 but is often discounted on sites like Look Fantastic or Feel Unique. 

Top:- Andrew Barton Paddle Brush, Bottom:- Tangle Teezer.

 A really important part of any hair care routine is brushing your hair as it removes any impurities and prevents it from matting up and becoming too tangled to handle (better to tackle it before it gets bad trust me I speak from experience). Two amazing brushes are a Tangle Teezer (bet you were all really surprised that mines is pink...hehehe) and a paddle brush. I love my tangle teezer and it is absolutely brilliant for when I'm on the go or when my hair is not very knotted. They're sold in lots of places now too for around £10 which is bargainous! There is also a wide selection of tangle teezers available these days so you can select the one that is best for your hair including special compact one's for carrying in your handbag (which I need). As much as I love my tangle teezer though, it is not enough to tackle my long, easily matted hair by itself so I use a paddle brush aswell and this one is by Andrew Barton. This is a life saver for me and is the only brush I can use to get serious knots out of my hair and I would one hundred percent recommend anybody with really long hair to get these two brushes. Many of my friends now own tangle teezers after always borrowing mine a million times and being amazed by how good it is. It definitely would be enough just to use a tangle teezer for people with finer, shorter hair but for those with longer locks I'd definitely invest in both. Paddle brushes can be picked up relatively cheaply in stores like Boots and Superdrug.

Mane n Tail Shampoo and Conditioner- http://www.amazon.co.uk/MANE-n-TAIL-SHAMPOO-CONDITIONER/dp/B005CI1JEG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389281391&sr=8-1&keywords=mane+n+tail
Paul Mitchell Clarifying Shampoo- http://www.beautybay.com/haircare/paulmitchell/clarifyingshampoothree
TIGI Serious Conditoner (it's actually discounted to £21 pounds on Amazon now but there's only two left in stock so hurry scurry!!) - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tigi-S-Factor-Serious-Conditioner-750ml/dp/B001AQU1DY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389281794&sr=8-1&keywords=s+factor+conditioner
Aussie 3 Minute Miracle- http://www.boots.com/en/Aussie-3-Minute-Miracle-Luscious-Long-250ml_38758/
L'Oreal Studio Line Super Volumising Spray- http://www.superdrug.com/hair-styling/loreal-studio-txt-volume-supersize-spray/invt/821564&bklist=
Aussie Luscious Long Leave in Conditioner- http://www.boots.com/en/Aussie-3-Minute-Miracle-Luscious-Long-250ml_38758/
Argan Oil - http://www.boots.com/en/Organix-Moroccan-Argan-Oil-Serum-100ml_1274124/
Tigi Catwalk Sleek Mystique Fast Fixx Style Prep (currently discounted to £8!!) - http://www.feelunique.com/p/TIGI-Catwalk-Straight-Collection-Sleek-Mystique-Fast-Fixx-Style-Prep-270ml

That's all the products that I use in my hair care routine. What products do you use in your hair care routine? Have you tried any of these onnes?

Lots of love, A  x x x